Project Location
The MTA’s RFP requested that the future of 40 Quay Street be responsive to community needs while advancing the MTA’s capital program and investments. The project team has pursued programmatic solutions both on and beyond the project site to help address priorities identified by Brooklyn Community Board 1 for the district, particularly creating affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers, increasing access to open and green space, and improving street safety.
Selected by the MTA in 2021, the Monitor Point proposal transforms the use of the site to address critical housing needs in the community, especially affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers. It also creates and enhances local open space and access to the waterfront while investing in resilient infrastructure to confront the impacts of climate change and flooding. Pedestrian access to park space and the waterfront will also be improved through the removal of significant industrial truck traffic at 40 Quay Street and 65 Commercial Street.
All of this is made possible by updating the zoning of the project site at 40 Quay Street to allow for increased housing opportunities to include affordable units and by relocating the two MTA facilities to a new state-of-the-art facility at 213 Meadow Street in the North Brooklyn Industrial Business Zone in East Williamsburg.
The new approximate 143,000-square-foot consolidated MTA facility on Meadow Street will improve both MTA operations while reducing negative impacts for Greenpoint residents. By relocating the Mobile Wash and Materials Control Units from Quay Street and the Emergency Response Unit from Box Street, the new facility will:
- Move incompatible uses out of the residential neighborhood, and increase street safety by moving the MTA’s fleet of vehicles to an industrial zone
- Allow for community-oriented uses at Quay and Box Streets, including access to open spaces
- Create a new resilient and energy-efficient facility for the MTA
View Looking West from Quay Street: Blocking view/ access to East River
View Looking West from Quay Street: Noxious uses in residential community
Without updating the local zoning and relocating the MTA facilities, the existing sites will continue to pose significant issues for the Greenpoint community:
- The layout and infrastructure of the MTA facilities will continue to create a physical barrier that obstructs access to the waterfront
- The ongoing presence of the facilities maintains environmental pollutants and noise, which are detrimental to the local environment and quality of life for nearby residential and commercial areas
- The current MTA facility on Commercial Street prevents the full realization of Box Street Park
- As-of-right development at 40 Quay Street would severely limit housing opportunities on-site, especially for low-income New Yorkers
*This image is a conceptual rendering preliminary concept rendering, subject to change.
